Bollinger to sue supermarkets?

The president of Bollinger is set to sue French supermarkets, saying their cut-price promotions are detrimental to the Champagne house’s image.

Ghislain de Montgolfier told journalists the discounts, which come as part of the annual autumn wine sale (Foire aux vins) in France, were ‘a veritable organised traffic, flouting all the rules of commerce’.

According to The Times newspaper, the response came after de Montgolfier found bottles of Bollinger, normally priced at €70 (£46), on sale for €27 (£18).

Steven Leroux, director of marketing at the Ay-based Champagne house said the sale prices were usually set at around 15-20% of the retail price although some supermarkets were cutting prices by as much as 30%.

‘We intend to obtain the details of these commercial practises and it could be that legal action is the best way to do this,’ Leroux told decanter.com.

Leroux would not say which French supermarkets any potential legal action would target and was keen to stress the move was at a ‘hypothetical’ stage.

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